Panic Attack

Panic Attack is another puzzle that I received from Puzzle Master to review. This puzzle is designed by Kirill Grebnev and manufactured by PuzzleMaster. Kirill has also designed Harmony, which won the Puzzler's Award and Jury First Prize at IPP30 in 2010, and Forest Puzzle which won an honorable mention at IPP27 in 2007.

Like all of their wire puzzles, the quality is great. The wire is a thick enough guage to be sturdy, but no so much that it is heavy. It has a nice shine to it as well.

The objective is pretty simple: remove the yellow loop from the heart. I like puzzles that appear simple like this one: only two pieces! It reminded me a bit of Iwahiro's Dinghy, where you are also removing a flexible loop from a wire structure.

At first, it looks fairly impossible, which is always a good thing for a puzzle like this. However, there aren't very many dead ends, which made it pretty easy. I think I solved in about a minute or so. I brought it to a family gathering and some people had a much easier time with it than others. Most had the right idea, but it must be executed in the correct way. I think this is a bit easier than an 8/10, maybe closer to a 6/10, but it really depends.

As for drawbacks, the only thing I can think of is that rope is just a hair too short for my taste, but it probably varies a bit and some may actually prefer it this way. Overall, a fun puzzle that has a nice simplicity. A great design by Kirill Grebnev! Thanks again to Puzzle Master for sending it to me to review!